A general packet radio service (GPRS) gateway support node (GGSN) front end processor (GFEP) system includes an input/output (I/O) interface configured to receive data directly from at least one supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) device. The received data is associated with at least one of monitoring and controlling an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) device. The GFEP system also includes a GFEP processor operatively coupled to the I/O interface, the GFEP processor is configured to perform a protocol conversion to facilitate transfer of the received data from the SCADA device to a GGSN of a wireless communications network, and provide the received data to the GGSN for delivery via the wireless communications network to the AMI device.
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1. A front end processor system, comprising: an input/output interface configured to receive data directly from a supervisory control and data acquisition device, the received data being for at least one of monitoring and controlling an advanced metering infrastructure device; a processor being configured to: perform a protocol conversion to facilitate transfer of the received data from the supervisory control and data acquisition device to a general packet radio service gateway support node of a wireless communications network; and provide the received data to the general packet radio service gateway support node for delivery via the wireless communications network to the advanced metering infrastructure device; a provisioning manager being configured to provision at least one connection between the supervisory control and data acquisition device and the front end processor system with configuration parameters comprising at least one of a connection type, a protocol used, a source address, a destination address, and a transmission restriction; a security catalog database configured to store a security profile for the at least one connection, each security profile comprising at least one of a connection type, a supervisory control and data acquisition device characteristic, an allowed protocol, an allowed address, a data transmitted amount, and a data received amount; and a security manager being configured to: receive, in response to a particular connection of the at least one connection between the supervisory control and data acquisition device and the front end processor system being initiated, a request for security information from the provisioning manager; fetch, in response to the request for security information, the security profile associated with the supervisory control and data acquisition device from the security catalog database; and forward the security profile associated with the supervisory control and data acquisition device to the provisioning manager, wherein the provisioning manager is further configured to use the security profile to provision the particular connection.
A front-end processor system facilitates communication between SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) devices and a wireless network. It has an I/O interface to directly receive data from SCADA devices, which is used for monitoring or controlling AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) devices. A processor converts the SCADA data into a format suitable for a GGSN (General Packet Radio Service Gateway Support Node) in a wireless network, then sends the converted data to the GGSN for delivery to the AMI device. A provisioning manager configures connections between SCADA devices and the processor using parameters like connection type, protocol, and addresses. A security database stores security profiles for connections, including allowed protocols and addresses. A security manager retrieves and forwards these security profiles to the provisioning manager upon connection initiation, ensuring secure communication by validating the connection based on the stored security profile.
2. The front end processor system of claim 1 , wherein in being configured to perform a protocol conversion, the processor is configured to perform a data link layer protocol conversion.
The front-end processor system described in claim 1 performs protocol conversion at the data link layer to facilitate transfer of data received from the supervisory control and data acquisition device to the general packet radio service gateway support node. Specifically, the protocol conversion happens at layer 2 of the OSI model, handling frame formatting and addressing.
3. The front end processor system of claim 2 , wherein in being configured to perform the data link layer protocol conversion, the processor is configured to convert the received data from a first protocol used by the supervisory control and data acquisition device and selected from a group of first protocols consisting of Distributed Network Protocol, Modbus, Modbus X, and Multispeak to a second protocol used by the general packet radio service gateway support node, the second protocol being a data link layer protocol of the Internet Protocol Suite.
The front-end processor system described in claim 1 and claim 2 converts the data link layer protocol from a SCADA device's protocol (like Distributed Network Protocol, Modbus, Modbus X, or Multispeak) to a data link layer protocol of the Internet Protocol Suite used by the GGSN (General Packet Radio Service Gateway Support Node). This enables seamless communication by translating the SCADA device's communication format into a format compatible with the wireless network.
4. The front end processor system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is part of the general packet radio service gateway support node.
The front-end processor system described in claim 1, which converts data from SCADA devices for AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) devices, has its processor integrated directly into the GGSN (General Packet Radio Service Gateway Support Node). Instead of being a separate component, the protocol conversion and data handling occur within the GGSN itself.
5. The front end processor system of claim 1 , wherein the supervisory control and data acquisition device is associated with at least one of electricity generation, electricity transmission, electricity distribution, a manufacturing process, a production process, a fabrication process, a refining process, water treatment, water distribution, wastewater collection, wastewater treatment, natural gas distribution, natural gas collection, oil distribution, oil collection, a defense system monitoring process, a security system monitoring process, a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning process, and energy consumption.
The front-end processor system described in claim 1 handles data from SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) devices used in various industrial applications. These applications include electricity generation, transmission, and distribution; manufacturing, production, fabrication, and refining processes; water and wastewater treatment; natural gas and oil distribution and collection; defense and security system monitoring; HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) control; and energy consumption management.
6. The front end processor system of claim 1 , wherein the automated metering infrastructure device is a smart grid device.
The front-end processor system described in claim 1 sends data to an automated metering infrastructure (AMI) device, which is a smart grid device. This enables features like remote meter reading, demand response, and grid monitoring for improved energy management and efficiency.
7. A network architecture for facilitating inter-domain communications between a supervisory control and data acquisition domain and a wireless service provider domain, the network architecture comprising: a general packet radio service gateway support node; a front end processor system, the front end processor system being configured to: perform a protocol conversion to facilitate transfer of data received from the supervisory control and data acquisition domain to the wireless service provider domain; provide the data to the general packet radio service gateway support node for delivery via a wireless communications network of the wireless service provider domain to an automated metering infrastructure device; provision at least one connection of the front end processor system to a supervisory control and data acquisition device of the supervisory control and data acquisition domain with configuration parameters comprising at least one of a connection type, a protocol used, a source address, a destination address, and a transmission restriction; receive, in response to a particular connection of the at least one connection between the supervisory control and data acquisition device and the front end processor system being initiated, a request for security information; fetch, in response to the request for security information, the security profile associated with the supervisory control and data acquisition device from a security catalog database storing a security profile for the at least one connection, each security profile comprising at least one of a connection type, a supervisory control and data acquisition device characteristic, an allowed protocol, an allowed address, a data transmitted amount, and a data received amount, wherein the security profile associated with the supervisory control and data acquisition device is used to provision the particular connection.
A network architecture facilitates communication between SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems and a wireless service provider. It includes a GGSN (General Packet Radio Service Gateway Support Node) and a front-end processor. The front-end processor converts data received from the SCADA domain for transmission to the wireless service provider's domain. It then provides the data to the GGSN for delivery over a wireless network to an AMI (Automated Metering Infrastructure) device. The front-end processor also provisions connections to SCADA devices using parameters like connection type and protocol. Upon connection initiation, it requests security information, fetches a security profile from a database, and uses it to provision the connection, ensuring secure communication.
8. The network architecture of claim 7 , wherein the supervisory control and data acquisition device is associated with at least one of electricity generation, electricity transmission, electricity distribution, a manufacturing process, a production process, a fabrication process, a refining process, water treatment, water distribution, wastewater collection, wastewater treatment, natural gas distribution, natural gas collection, oil distribution, oil collection, a defense system monitoring process, a security system monitoring process, a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning process, and energy consumption.
The network architecture described in claim 7 uses SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) devices associated with a wide variety of sectors. These sectors include electricity generation, transmission, and distribution; manufacturing, production, fabrication, and refining processes; water and wastewater treatment; natural gas and oil distribution and collection; defense and security system monitoring; HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) control; and energy consumption management.
9. The network architecture of claim 7 , wherein in being configured to perform a protocol conversion, the front end processor system is configured to perform a data link layer protocol conversion.
In the network architecture described in claim 7, the front-end processor performs a data link layer protocol conversion to facilitate transfer of data from the supervisory control and data acquisition domain to the wireless service provider domain. The protocol conversion specifically happens at layer 2 of the OSI model.
10. The network architecture of claim 9 , wherein in being configured to perform the data link layer protocol conversion, the front end processor system is configured to convert the data from a first protocol used by the supervisory control and data acquisition device and selected from a group of first protocols consisting of Distributed Network Protocol, Modbus, Modbus X, and Multispeak to a second protocol used by the general packet radio service gateway support node, the second protocol being a data link layer protocol of the Internet Protocol Suite.
The network architecture described in claim 7 and claim 9 uses the front-end processor to convert data from a SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) device's protocol (like Distributed Network Protocol, Modbus, Modbus X, or Multispeak) to a data link layer protocol of the Internet Protocol Suite used by the GGSN (General Packet Radio Service Gateway Support Node). This facilitates seamless communication between the SCADA device and the wireless network.
11. The network architecture of claim 7 , wherein the supervisory control and data acquisition device is associated with at least one of electricity generation, electricity transmission, electricity distribution, a manufacturing process, a production process, a fabrication process, a refining process, water treatment, water distribution, wastewater collection, wastewater treatment, natural gas distribution, natural gas collection, oil distribution, oil collection, a defense system monitoring process, a security system monitoring process, a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning process, and energy consumption.
The network architecture described in claim 7 uses SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) devices associated with a wide variety of sectors. These sectors include electricity generation, transmission, and distribution; manufacturing, production, fabrication, and refining processes; water and wastewater treatment; natural gas and oil distribution and collection; defense and security system monitoring; HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) control; and energy consumption management.
12. The network architecture of claim 7 , wherein the automated metering infrastructure device is a smart grid device.
The network architecture described in claim 7 uses an automated metering infrastructure (AMI) device, which is a smart grid device. This supports advanced features like remote meter reading, demand response, and grid monitoring.
13. The network architecture of claim 7 , wherein the front end processor system is in communication with the general packet radio service gateway support node.
In the network architecture described in claim 7, the front-end processor system is in communication with the GGSN (General Packet Radio Service Gateway Support Node). It is a separate entity but connected to and exchanging data with the GGSN.
14. The network architecture of claim 7 , wherein the front end processor system is integrated within the general packet radio service gateway support node.
In the network architecture described in claim 7, the front-end processor system is integrated within the GGSN (General Packet Radio Service Gateway Support Node). Therefore, the front-end processing and GGSN functions reside on the same physical device.
15. A method for facilitating inter-domain communications between a supervisory control and data acquisition domain and a wireless service provider domain, the method comprising: performing, by a processor of a front end processor system, a protocol conversion to facilitate transfer of data received from a supervisory control and data acquisition device of the supervisory control and data acquisition domain to a general packet radio service gateway support node of the wireless service provider domain; providing the data to the general packet radio service gateway support node for delivery via a wireless communications network of the wireless service provider domain to an automated metering infrastructure device; provisioning, by a provisioning manager, at least one connection of the front end processor system to the supervisory control and data acquisition device with configuration parameters comprising at least one of a connection type, a protocol used, a source address, a destination address, and a transmission restriction; receiving, by a security manager, in response to a particular connection of the at least one connection between the supervisory control and data acquisition device and the front end processor system being initiated, a request for security information from the provisioning manager; fetching, in response to the request for security information, the security profile associated with the supervisory control and data acquisition device from a security catalog database storing a security profile for the at least one connection, each security profile comprising at least one of a connection type, a supervisory control and data acquisition device characteristic, an allowed protocol, an allowed address, a data transmitted amount, and a data received amount; and forwarding, by the security manager, the security profile associated with the supervisory control and data acquisition device to the provisioning manager, wherein the provisioning manager uses the security profile to provision the particular connection.
A method facilitates communication between SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems and a wireless network. A front-end processor converts data from a SCADA device into a format suitable for a GGSN (General Packet Radio Service Gateway Support Node). The data is then sent to the GGSN for delivery to an AMI (Automated Metering Infrastructure) device. A provisioning manager configures connections between the front-end processor and SCADA devices using parameters such as connection type and protocol. A security manager, upon connection initiation, receives a request for security information, retrieves a security profile from a database, and forwards it to the provisioning manager. The provisioning manager then uses the security profile to provision the connection.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein performing the protocol conversion comprises converting the data received according to a first protocol used by the supervisory control and data acquisition device and selected from a group of first protocols consisting of Distributed Network Protocol Modbus, Modbus X, and Multispeak to a second protocol used by the general packet radio service gateway support node, the second protocol being a data link layer protocol of the Internet Protocol Suite.
The method described in claim 15, regarding converting data from a SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) device's protocol, converts it from a protocol such as Distributed Network Protocol, Modbus, Modbus X, or Multispeak, to a data link layer protocol of the Internet Protocol Suite used by the GGSN (General Packet Radio Service Gateway Support Node).
17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the automated metering infrastructure device is a smart grid device.
The method described in claim 15 delivers data to an automated metering infrastructure (AMI) device, which is a smart grid device.
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November 8, 2010
September 3, 2013
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